I too am a Pentaxian! I started with an SF-1 film body and the 28-80 and 70-210. I picked up my first Pentax DSLR with the *istDS in 2005. I went to the K10D in 2007. Since then I gave one of my daughters the *istDS. I ended up picking up a K100D Super for keeping in my vehicle, so if it was stolen, I wouldn't cry too much about it. I got a second K10D as a backup for the first, then picked up a K20D later. Cyber Monday last month I picked up the K-5 for $999.95 at Adorama. The K-5 Rocks!! What a fantastic camera. It is a quantum leap from the K20D. I have a pretty good assortment of lenses I have amassed over the years and suffered a little LBA. My favorite lenses are my DA10-17 fisheye, DA12-24mm, DA18-250mm, DA55-300, FA50mm 2.8 Macro, FA100mm 2.8 Macro, Sigma 50-500mm, and DA40 2.8 Limited. My lesser used lenses I have are some older F series zooms and prime which include F35-70mm, F28-80mm, F35-135mm, F70-210mm, F50mm 1.7, and 1.7x Autofocus Adapter. Then there is a FA100-300mm, a Tamron 28-300, Sigma 18-50mm 2.8, DA16-45, and probably a few others that don't come to mind. I will probably weed out some that I don't use much or are redundant. I always shoot with 2 cameras and my favorite combo for most of my photography is the 10-17 fisheye on one and the 18-250 on the other. Air show photography is definitely the Sigma 50-500 and one of my wide angle lenses on the other. I really love the 10-17! It has edged out the 12-24 most of the time. The 16-45 comes in handy on occasion as well. So many choices, so many things to go shoot!

All Pentax DSLR cameras will use any lens Pentax ever made. To use the M42 screw mount lenses you will need an adapter, but all K bayonet mount lenses will work. I had a Pentax SF-1 I bought back in 1987 that I purchased two lenses along with the body. They were a 28-80mm and a 70-210mm and cost me about $200 each, plus $400 for the body. So when I bought my first DSLR I went with the Pentax *istDS. I have since then picked up a K100D Super, then a couple of K10D's, a K20D, and thanks to Cyber Monday last month, I picked up the K-5 for $999.95. What a quantum leap the K-5 is!! I do have an oddball in my stable of cameras, a Sony Alpha 550. It's a nice camera, but I did not buy it, I won it in a photo contest with an image I took with my Pentax! A great place to pick up Pentax gear reasonably is on pentaxforums.com. I buy from the marketplace there all the time and come up with some fantastic buys on both camera bodies and lenses as well as other accessories.

It looks just like this spider that I shot over in Okinawa, Japan while staying at Okuma military resort in July 2010.

I always shoot with 2 cameras. My favorite set up is my Pentax DA10-17 fisheye on one body and my DA 18-250. I like it a bit better than my DA 12-24 and the Tamron 28-300. These set ups cover most anything I would want to shoot. I do get out the Sigma 50-500 on occasion. That is the lens of choice for air shows!

A few of my silouhettes.

Sandhill Cranes at Jasper Pulaski FWA


Park Avenue area in Arches National Park


Sunset on river south of Loogootee, Indiana

Thanks! This shot actually won the grand prize in their photo contest after the show. That is how I ended up with a Sony Alpha 550 with an 18-55mm kit lens along with a Lowepro Slingshot 202AW backpack.

I am a serious photography enthusiast. I enjoy traveling and photography. I have a several DSLR's, which include a K100D Super, 2 K10D's, a K20D, and a Sony Alpha 550. I plan to buy the Pentax K5 real soon. I have a lot of great lenses I have acquired over the years. I love macro and landscape the most. Here are a few of my favorite shots

A shot of 4 of my show dogs years ago


A shot of ice from a storm the previous day


A shot taken at the Indianapolis Air Show in 2010